01/16/2025
It’s been ages! I’m thrilled to provide an update on what we are up at Students Offering Support (SOS). It has been a slow but rewarding journey back from pandemic closures and travel limits, but there is good news to report::
1) We’ve reset with nine active SOS campus chapters across Canada and conducted our first service trip with Durham College in November. If you are on campus or know someone who is, touch base with the local chapter president to get involved and support their activities!
2) Guatemala Groundswell has continued throughout the travel shutdown and is now in its sixth year. The program was kept alive through modest campus fundraising, a grant from Rotary Club of Durham and private donations. We are thrilled to report that in December we signed a three year Contribution Agreement with Global Affairs Canada to ensure the continuation of 40+ youth ambassadors in rural communities mentoring girls and boys to help them stay in school longer.
3) SOS brokered a collaboration with Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), a Canadian 100% charity, to distribute 1,500 bed kits to girls and boys in the communities we serve in Guatemala. These kits provide much needed supplies to help kids sleep well so they succeed in school. We will be looking for volunteers for future trips as this collaboration expands.
We have been rebuilding the SOS HQ team to prepare for an exciting 2025. Watch for some introductions as the new team starts to take shape. We have had the support of a small committed board, a skeleton staff and enthusiastic volunteers from our SOS community but we will need financial support to deliver on the promise.
Please consider making a one time or monthly donation at the link below. Like me, you likely received a Carbon Tax refund today - why not donate that? To donate now and receive a Canadian charitable tax receipt click here:
DONATE TO https://studentsofferingsupport.org/donate-now/
As always, I stand ready to answer any and all questions about SOS and our work in Central America.
